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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: row · key · snap · pitch · cap · bark · cold · net

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. key — in music
  5. bark — to shout
  6. net — after costs
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cap — of ice
  9. net — for catching
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. row — a line
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. cap — a lid
  20. snap — to click
  21. cap — a hat
  22. net — in sport
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com